Dilhara Fernando

Dilhara Fernando

Personal information
Full name	Congenige Randhi Dilhara Fernando
Born	(1979-07-19) 19 July 1979 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 82)	14 June 2000 v Pakistan
Last Test	8 July 2012 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 106)	9 January 2001 v South Africa
Last ODI	11 January 2012 v Pakistan
T20I debut (cap 3)	15 June 2006 v England
Last T20I	25 November 2011 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1997/98–present	Sinhalese Sports Club
2008	Worcestershire
2008–2011	Mumbai Indians
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs T20I FC Matches 40 147 17 109 Runs scored 249 239 24 561 Batting average 8.30 9.19 6.00 7.58 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 -/- 0/0 Top score 39* 20 21 42 Balls bowled 6,181 6,507 366 14,670 Wickets 100 187 18 291 Bowling average 37.84 30.20 25.38 30.39 5 wickets in innings 3 1 0 6 10 wickets in match 0 n/a 0 0 Best bowling 5/42 6/27 3/19 6/29 Catches/stumpings 10/– 27/– 3/- 39/–
Source: Cricinfo, 11 July 2015

Congenige Randhi Dilhara Fernando (born 19 July 1979) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer playing for Tests, ODIs and T20Is in international arena. He is a right-handed pace bowler. Dilhara studied at De Mazenod College Kandana. He started off his school career as a basketball player but was spotted by the college cricket coach because of his build and height.

He was a key member for 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup and 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup runner-up teams.

Fernando is best known for his rare technique when bowling the slower ball by splitting the fingers on the ball as it is released from the hand. He is the fastest bowler produced by Sri Lanka.

International Career

Fernando debuted for Sri Lanka in a Test Match against Pakistan at Colombo in June 2000. Six months later in a game at Durban he clocked 91.9 mph. He bowled at 93.40 mph vs Bangladesh at India. His international career however has been limited due to injury. In the period of a year he suffered two stress fracture of the back and as a result missed the their home series against Australia in 2004.

In the 2010 tour of Australia, in the 3rd and final ODI at The Gabba, he clocked speeds reaching 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).

In 2008 he appeared briefly in English county cricket, playing one County Championship and two Pro40 matches at the end of the season for Worcestershire.

He is a Christian (Catholic) and sometimes attends church with Chaminda Vaas.

On 13 October 2007, in the 5th game of an ODI series with England, at Colombo, Fernando took career-best bowling figures of 6 for 27, as Sri Lanka thrashed England by 107 runs. This was the first time Fernando had taken more than 4 wickets in an ODI innings, and his feat placed him 5th in the list of best ODI bowling by a Sri Lankan.

During 2007 Cricket World Cup against England, he guided the team into winning margin by just 2 runs. England required just 2 runs in the last ball of the match, where Ravi Bopara in batting. Fernando delivers a good ball and Bopara was bowled by 2 runs short.

Fernando completed the series with 158 career ODI wickets. As of 17 June 2011, only Chaminda Vaas, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan have taken more ODI wickets for Sri Lanka (and all three have taken over 300 ODI wickets).

Fall and rise in arena

However,Fernando did not live up to his full potential. His lack of consistency and control over deliveries made him less reliable bowler at international level. Undoubtedly,Fernando could have been a lethal weapon for Lankan attack like his teammate Lasith Malinga had he stuck to the basics of control and consistency.

Fernando is not seen in international cricket since 2012, due to his injuries and emergence of many pace bowlers from Sri Lanka.

After 3 years, Fernando have picked for the T20I series against India. He played his first international games after 4 years, on 14 February 2016 against India. Due to few runs to get by India, he did not able to get wickets and Sri Lanka lost the match by 9 wickets as well.

Records

Dilhara Fernando has 3 Tests and 1 ODI five-wicket hauls.

Test Five Wicket hauls

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	5/98	2	South Africa	Kingsmead	Durban	South Africa	2000
2	5/42	7	India	Galle International Stadium	Galle	Sri Lanka	2001
3	5/60	18	Bangladesh	P Sara Oval	Colombo	Sri Lanka	2005

ODI Five Wicket hauls

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	6/27	123	England	R. Premadasa Stadium	Colombo	Sri Lanka	2007

External links

• Dilhara Fernando at ESPNcricinfo
• Dilhara Fernando at CricketArchive (subscription required)